


Cheer

by cupofkoushi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, And all go to the same Uni in Tokyo, Everyone's friends, Friendsmas, Gen, Haikyuu!! Secret Santa 2018, Oikawa Tooru Knee Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-22 23:44:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17069456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupofkoushi/pseuds/cupofkoushi
Summary: Oikawa Tooru is now in university and finds himself working harder and harder on his new volleyball team. When he's faced with physical consequences of his training, his friends and teammates know exactly what to do.





	Cheer

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! :D  
> I got [captakashi](http://captakashi.tumblr.com/) for the DAILYHAIKYUU!! Secret Santa! :D  
> It was my very first time not writing anything ship-based so I hope that this is okay? I was really nervous writing it, but luckily Oikawa is a good character to focus on with any kind of writing. It was fun to do!  
> Happy holidays, Matcha! :D

University had been busy, Oikawa finally making it into his second semester of his first year. It had been much different than high school— everything was so much bigger. The campus was so large that Oikawa had needed a map for the first three weeks, the class sizes were so big that Oikawa was sure that his professor didn’t know he even existed, and the homework was larger than life. But, what also happened to be bigger was the volleyball he got to play. A bigger team, bigger games, bigger stakes.

All in the heart of the big city of Tokyo.

“You alright?” Kuroo huffed, patting Oikawa on the back with a loud thump, Oikawa’s shoulders lurching slightly at the impact. “You look tired.”

Kuroo Tetsurou was one of the many new additions to Oikawa’s life. He and his wild hair had waltzed right into Oikawa’s life when the two of them met on the university team, Kuroo sliding up to Iwaizumi and Oikawa in the corner with one other, Sawamura Daichi, as they were the only newcomers.

Oikawa panted slightly, wiping the sweat off of his brow. He could faintly hear the particular screech of Daichi’s shoes on the gymnasium floor, Oikawa nodding in response.

“Yeah.”

Kuroo eyed Oikawa warily, Oikawa purposefully ignoring the all-knowing look the middle blocker was giving him. It was clear that Kuroo knew his knee was acting up a bit, Oikawa favoring one leg over the other, but Kuroo knew by now not to question it.

By the time practice ended, Oikawa’s knee truly needed to be iced. He had been overworking it the last week or two since he now had to start at the bottom with a brand new team. It was important that he show who he was and that he wasn’t here to mess around, but it was clearly beginning to take its toll.

Iwaizumi knew what was happening— he had seen it so many times in high school that Oikawa would have been genuinely surprised if he _hadn’t_ noticed. Iwaizumi was not only really intuitive but had been Oikawa’s best friend for so many years that Iwaizumi could probably tell when Oikawa was about to get a cold before he even could.

What was truly surprising was when Kiyoko Shimizu, the newest addition to their volleyball group through the introduction of Daichi, had even picked up on Oikawa’s fluctuating health. He had decided to meet up with Kiyoko for lunch in the canteen between classes and the moment he sat down, she quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Your knee?”

Oikawa’s body felt rigid, his eyes widening at the simple question. No _‘hello’_ , no _‘how are you?’_ Just a direct question and Oikawa felt himself sigh.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I’m used to it.”

Oikawa had had problems with his knee before due to overworking it when he knew that he shouldn’t. Endless hours of jumping for perfecting his jump float serve, numerous nights spent on working his muscles endlessly, countless times practicing receiving. His knee was more than willing to give out after intense practices like these, and times like this, that’s exactly what it threatened to do.

Doctors had warned Oikawa— had warned him that the amount of pressure he was applying onto his bones wasn’t going to help him in the long run. The physical strain he was putting on himself was going to permanently cause damage if he wasn’t careful.

“Daichi said you’ve been practicing a lot lately, huh? That’s probably not a good thing, Tooru. I remember you having sprained your knee in high school, right? You came into that practice match with a knee brace and even wore it in our other matches.”

Oikawa huffed, chewing on his bottom lip. He knew that already, but he couldn’t find it in himself to truly be mad with the way Kiyoko’s worried eyes were watching him. Oikawa recognized that exact same expression on Daichi, Kuroo, and Iwaizumi whenever they practiced and Oikawa had to lean on the wall in between coach’s speeches.

It was tiring hearing people worry about his knee for him, but he could never find it in himself to earnestly be upset about it.

“I know. It’s just that I’m scared the coach won’t notice me if I don’t stand out. It’s different than it was in high school, you know,” Oikawa sighed, leaning forward on the table between them, a cup of coffee on each of their sides. “I gotta work my way up again.”

Kiyoko quirked another eyebrow, her soft eyes peering at him from behind her glasses. She seemed to be calculating something. “You’re Oikawa Tooru. They know who you are. You were in magazines, was the captain of Aoba Johsai… Everyone knows who Oikawa Tooru is.”

Oikawa scrunched his name up at the information. His name was something that he had tried very hard to build. He had worked hard to create a reputation in his name— a ruler of the court. It was a label that he was quite proud of, but none of that truly meant much in university until he was able to show that he was able to _uphold_ that very same title.

“I suppose,” Oikawa laughed, waving her off and changing the subject immediately.

\---

It wasn’t until a week later that Oikawa knew he had messed up. Big time.

When he woke up in the morning, Oikawa’s entire knee decided it wasn’t time to cooperate. He rose from his bed with it throbbing, Oikawa immediately hissing when he tried his best to stand up on it. The pain started a little below his knee but definitely spread throughout it with each step he took. He had overworked himself, just like Iwaizumi warned, just like Kiyoko noticed, just like Kuroo and Daichi suspected. It didn’t help that winter was here and that the cold air did absolutely no favors for his injury.

After almost an hour of deciding what to do, Oikawa had to call the doctor and schedule an appointment, eventually missing not only volleyball practice but class as well. Tendinitis was something Oikawa had been familiar with already, his knee having experienced it a few times in high school due to his heavy practice. It seemed that he hadn’t learned his lesson, his doctor instructing him to ice it twice a day and to stay off of it for a week.

Oikawa hadn’t felt the frustration truly well up within him until it was time for him to go up the stairs into his apartment, the walk from the bus already having been an issue, the descent looking more daunting the closer he got. He pushed his way to the top and shoved his way inside his apartment, barely ripping the keys out of his doorknob before slamming it shut.

He could hear his phone faintly buzzing in his backpack. He had thrown the pack behind the couch, its vibrations fairly audible despite the distance from its location and his bedroom.

Oikawa angrily threw a pillow under his leg, propping it up and closing his eyes, letting everything drown out.

\---

Oikawa could make out the sound of knocking on his front door, the bangs getting louder and louder the more he chose to ignore it. He hadn’t seen anyone over the course of the last couple of days, purposefully dodging his teammate’s and friends’ calls and text messages. He had made it to class after the second day, making sure to discuss things with the professor and his handy doctor’s note.

He was frustrated, so very mad with everything. Oikawa was upset that it felt like his own body was failing him when he needed it to cooperate the most. He was angry that it came at the worst time when he was still so new on the team and he was already facing the coach with an injury. He was disappointed in himself for letting it progress that far when he could feel the beginnings of it a while ago.

He didn’t feel like seeing anyone. Oikawa had been an expert in dodging Iwaizumi despite his best friend knowing his class schedule by heart. He would arrive a few minutes late, leave a few minutes early. Kuroo and Daichi were easy to evade— Oikawa knew their schedules and luckily both of them had schedules that were packed full. Kiyoko was the easiest— their schedules hardly ever allowed free time to hang out with each other.

But the knocking grew heavier, filled with more purpose. Oikawa scrunched his nose. He reached over to his nightstand, plucking his phone and earpods off of the top, pressing the buds into his ears to drown everything out. Hopefully whoever was at the door would just leave.

It wasn’t until three songs had passed that Oikawa had felt himself sink back into the bed, relaxed that his privacy hadn’t been invaded. It wasn’t until another two had passed that Oikawa could hear his bedroom door swing open loudly, the doorknob ricocheting off the wall so hard that whoever had barged in had to hold it open a second time.

Oikawa felt his heart leap out of his chest as he scrambled off the bed, desperate to get to the opposite side of the room. He was pretty sure he had let out a loud screech in the midst of it, although he couldn’t particularly remember if he had or not.

“Calm down!”

Oikawa’s eyes flickered up to Kuroo’s voice, the familiar crooked grin staring back at Oikawa like a punch to the gut. Following behind the middle blocker was Iwaizumi, Kiyoko, and a surprisingly timid Daichi, the four of them crowding inside of Oikawa’s fairly small bedroom. Iwaizumi was twirling his set of keys around his index finger, glaring down his best friend with a stern look. Oikawa instantly regretted ever giving Iwaizumi a spare.

“We were going to wait to see if you were going to open up the door first,” Iwaizumi casually mentioned, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. “But when it was obvious you weren’t coming out, I had to use it. Hope that’s alright with you.”

“It’s not,” Oikawa huffed, crawling back into bed. He looked up at the crowd that had formed inside and forced a smile. “But to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Daichi’s eyes narrowed for a moment, his lips pursing as Oikawa made eye contact with him. “You haven’t shown up to practice in a while. It’s very unlike you.”

“Coach said you had an injury.” Kuroo walked across the room, instantly making himself home at Oikawa’s desk chair, the rest of them finally spreading out as well. Iwaizumi took the spot next to Oikawa on the bed, Kiyoko leaned against the wall opposite of him, and Daichi settled on the floor, his eyes still able to stare Oikawa down. “Not that you told any of us.”

Oikawa sighed, pulling his knees up to his chest. “Well, coach told you anyway, what’s the point?”

“The point is that you didn’t tell us, and there’s a difference,” Iwaizumi scowled, lip slightly curled up in annoyance. “Then when we tried to get in contact with you all week, you’ve practically gone off the grid. No more 3am meme messages, no more meetings in between classes, no more random phone calls when you want to bother everyone else. It’s noticeable.”

Oikawa oddly felt a tad touched. His eyes glossed over for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip as everyone else in the room nodded along in agreement, even Kiyoko who still hadn’t spoken a word yet.

“So we figured it was your knee again,” Iwaizumi continued, Kuroo leaning back in the desk chair, the loud creak of it echoing between everybody. “It wasn’t subtle.”

“So, instead of letting you mope around the house and cry about it like you clearly have been doing this entire time, we have something better planned,” Kuroo sang from his spot, grin stretching even wider with each word. “It’s way more fun, I promise.”

Oikawa quirked an eyebrow, confusion written all over his features. “What?”

\---

Turned out that everybody’s big surprise required that Oikawa get out of bed, get dressed, and go with them. It required him to go down the stairs with Daichi and Kuroo doing their best to help guide him down despite the fact he was pretending he was capable of doing it quickly all on his own. It also required that Oikawa crawl into Kiyoko’s car, everybody’s shoulders squished as compactly as humanly possible, and suffer through the body heat and Kuroo’s terrible singing.

He was surprised to find himself back at Iwaizumi’s apartment— he had been there a few too many times this semester to not know its location. Luckily, his apartment complex had an elevator and while it was small and required two trips, everyone finally made it inside of Iwaizumi’s solo apartment and Oikawa’s eyes widened.

Snowflakes hung from the ceiling, paper shapes beautifully and expertly cut out into gorgeous geometric shapes. Iwaizumi’s tree had been put up and decorated dutifully with Christmas lights and ornaments, silver, gold, and white orbs covering each inch and branch. Green and red paper garland had been handcrafted and strung throughout the apartment in low patterned arches, Oikawa’s eyes following each ring happily.

“Merry early Friendsmas!” Everyone cheered, Oikawa startling at the sudden intrusion of sound. Everyone was cheering and rubbing his head affectionately, laughing when Oikawa swatted all of them away to the best of his abilities.

“What?” Oikawa practically giggled when Kiyoko placed a big present in his lap, her soft eyes watching him with friendly adoration. “Why?”

“We know you like Christmas,” Iwaizumi answered, patting the back of Oikawa’s chair he was sitting in. “And since this is our first year in Tokyo, we thought that it would be fun to have our own Christmas day before we all go back and visit our families.”

Oikawa’s eyes were glossed over again, his long fingers picking at the neatly wrapped paper, eager to open it, but also slow to savor the experience. It was so sweet and Oikawa tried to push down the guilt that he hadn’t even purchased their gifts yet, but with the way Kuroo’s eager grin was directed at him and Daichi’s expectant eyes, he couldn’t find it in himself to truly care.

“Thank you,” Oikawa croaked out, sniffling slightly as he even looked at the neatly presented bow right on top. “You guys really didn’t have to. I don’t have anything ready for you guys yet—”

“ _Anyway,_ ” Kuroo interrupted, smiling. “Open it!”

Oikawa stared at the box for a moment longer. It was a pretty decent size, longer than he’d expected, but Oikawa’s fingers shook for a moment as he debated on saying thank you again. This was something he expected from Iwaizumi (although less sappy), but having all of his friends in Tokyo celebrate something like this with him was even better. He loved the fact that they all had thought about him enough to drag him out of bed and force him to accept a surprise he hadn’t even asked for.

But Oikawa pressed on, sliding the ribbons off and tearing off the paper before removing the lid, Oikawa’s eyes widening at the present below.

“They’re knee braces,” Kiyoko chimed, her voice tender but laced with an ounce of joy. “Sorry if you were expecting something else—”

“No,” Oikawa breathed, shaking his head. “It’s not that— It’s just that… these aren’t the cheap kind…”

Before Oikawa could really formulate a response, everyone had begun taking turns on providing a few extra smaller gifts, Kuroo providing a gift bag that held a fancy sports water bottle, Iwaizumi tossing a medium box that held special running shoes, Kiyoko handing over a small container that held a gift certificate for a spa treatment, and Daichi even placing another gift bag that contained fresh milk bread from Oikawa's favorite bakery.

It was all so much— too much. Oikawa could feel his chest burning with gratitude and even a hint of embarrassment. They all hadn’t known each other that long, yet here they were providing such thoughtful gifts, even though Oikawa was blind-sighted and had nothing to offer them back at the moment.

He had shut everyone out for almost a week and all of his friends came as a group, dragged him out of bed, and forced him outside and to have some semblance of fun. Oikawa wasn't sure if it was from being holed up in his room for so long or the lack of interaction he had had with everyone, but it wasn't long before Oikawa threw his arm over his eyes and began crying, laughing awkwardly as everyone froze around him.

"It's good," Oikawa muttered, bending over slightly, careful not to knock the last gift in his lap off. "I promise. Just ignore me."

Finally, a round of laughter broke through the heavy silence, Oikawa grinning with a hurt ego, feeling all of his friends pound on his back and ruffle his hair. He knew that he must've been tired if he let everyone who touched his hair go unscathed.

"You need to make sure you're taking care of yourself," Kiyoko said with a warm but small smile. "We were all very worried. You shut everyone out. When the coach finally told the guys, they immediately knew what was up."

Oikawa sniffled, wiping the corner of his eye with his palm. "Sorry."

"You always do that." Iwaizumi was immediately in Oikawa's space, glaring down at him with a frown. "You think we wouldn't notice, Shittykawa?"

"Your annoying presence suddenly up and left," Kuroo barked. "Of course we'd notice."

Oikawa tossed Kuroo a firm scowl, Kuroo holding his hands up in defense with that same old crooked grin. Oikawa's scowl softened.

"Sawamura over here was the most worried," Kuroo outed, patting the former Karasuno captain's shoulder proudly. Daichi looked up at him like he immediately wanted to wrap his hands around his throat. "He won't tell you though, so I will for him. He was the one who suggested we do something nice for you."

Oikawa found himself laughing suddenly, giggles bubbling as he watched Daichi's sullen expression, watched all of his friends in the room laugh at his remorse and at Kuroo's future demise. It was such a happy moment, one that Oikawa had been too drowned in his own sorrows lately to seek out. Their plan had truly been a warm welcome.

"Thank you," Oikawa sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I appreciate it. After today, I don't want to hear anyone talk about me crying. You're all not allowed to. And if you do, our friendship is then revoked and you do not get to renew it ever again."

The room erupted into laughter again, even Iwaizumi chuckled as he began picking up all of the wrapping paper on the ground knowing damn well Oikawa came with all bark and no bite when it came to them.

Oikawa sat on the chair in the middle of Iwaizumi's apartment as his friends chattered about, picking up stray wrapping paper, asking Oikawa what happened exactly as he recounted what the doctor had told him, offering him help if he needed it in his classes. Iwaizumi's apartment was loud with laughter and conversation, Oikawa holding all of his new belongings close to his chest.

Daichi, with a bruised ego to match Oikawa's, approached him and explained why they chose the gifts they did, making Oikawa promise to go use Kiyoko's spa certificate because everyone knew how hard he had been working his body, and made Oikawa agree to wear the brace they all chipped in to get once he returned the court.

The rest of the night was spent with everyone stuffed on Iwaizumi's couch that definitely didn't fit five people, but somehow everyone managed to make it work. Some American Christmas movie was on as they all struggled to read the Japanese subtitles.

"Wait, what did that say?" Oikawa murmured, leaning forward slightly. "I couldn't read it."

"Blind as a bat," Iwaizumi said under his breath, earning a dramatic gasp from Oikawa. "Why didn't you bring your glasses?"

"I was kidnapped-- I didn't exactly have time to get my glasses."

"You were _not_ kidnapped," everyone chorused, Oikawa bursting into laughter again, pulling the blanket draped over him closer.

Oikawa was a lot of things: stubborn, prideful, calculating. But he was also weak to being spoiled, something his friends took to an incredibly high level today. As he clutched a warm cup of hot chocolate in his hands, listening to the way his friends began complaining about the movie choice, he glanced over at all of his presents under the tree, having already promised to give everyone else theirs soon.

As the five of them squished on the couch, paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, happy chatter fluttering between them, the warmth of his friends and beverage making him smile, Oikawa found himself incredibly grateful to have let everyone into his life.

Their presence was the best Christmas present he could have asked for, even though he would never admit it out loud. But he hoped that with the way they were already teasing him for crying _again_ , they would understand his unspoken words.


End file.
